Dad vows to take him back, Latest Others News - The New Paper
News

Dad vows to take him back

This article is more than 12 months old

A couple in Shanghai have left their baby son with their nanny and disappeared.

The nanny, who is known only as Ms Mao, has been searching for the couple since December.

After her efforts failed, she reported the matter to the police on Monday, Shanghai Daily reported.

The authorities began searching for the couple. On Wednesday, only the father, known only as Mr Lin, reported to the police and vowed to take back his seven-month-old son within a week.

Mr Lin said he had been on the run from loan sharks, adding that because they had taken his mobile phone, he could not contact Ms Mao.

He told the police that a friend had seen the story about his son on TV. Mr Lin said he had really missed the child and visited him before reporting to the police.

The unemployed man said he was looking for a suitable house to rent and will find a job as soon as possible.

The 30-year-old Shanghai native also said that he had broken up with his 44-year-old wife, who is also from Shanghai.

The couple employed Ms Mao last October, offering her 100 yuan (S$20) a day to take care of the infant, who was three months old then.

OUT OF TOWN

They left the baby at the nanny's house for a week while they were out of town.

When they returned, they asked the nanny to continue caring for the child because they were very busy.

In November, the couple took the boy home, only to return him to the nanny two days later.

Ms Mao said she last saw the father in December. He visited the child for a while, but left him behind.

She said she spent the next two months trying to locate the parents.

Ms Mao told Youth Daily newspaper that she agreed to look after the baby because the pay was good. She said she believed that the parents cared about their son, but were just too busy to take care of him.

They sometimes sent toys and milk powder for the child, she said.

Although she was paid only until the end of December, she and her family continued to care for the child.

Mr Wu Dong, a Shanghai-based lawyer, told Shanghai Daily that there are no laws against leaving a child in the care of a nanny.

He added that it is too early to say if the parents deliberately abandoned the child.

"Abandonment is a serious crime and no judgment can be made until the parents have been located and given a chance to explain," he said.